Park Bench
by igirisexual
Summary: Ludwig loves dogs. And Arthur really hates jogging.


Arthur sat down. His jogging music wasn't very good right now. And he didn't like jogging. Why had he been jogging? He had forgotten. Oh, right. It was to get back at that cocky asshole of a friend he had, who reckoned he didn't even know how to exercise. That one who claimed sex was a valid workout, and said that was how he stayed so thin yet muscled. He hated jogging. College sucked as much as his friend sucked dicks. Especially since he had to share a god damned room with him. It was late at night, and Francis was probably back in their shared room, doing what he did best with someone he just randomly pulled off of campus. The thought was really disturbing, and Arthur felt sick.

Anyway, his spite for that bastard had caused him to end up jogging in the dead of night. He still had one earphone of his jogging music in, and he was only half listening while he took respite on a park bench. He didn't even notice another person sit down beside him. Just by looking at him, Arthur could see that he was a few years younger than he was. But the person's face was the only thing saying so. His body was really muscled, and his skin was pale, even paler than it would be if it was daytime due to the moonlight. His hair was blond and slicked back, probably gelled if Arthur had to guess. In one hand, he held three leashes, each one attached to a dog.

"Isn't it a bit late to be out?" Arthur mused quietly, glancing down to the dogs as one of them, a Doberman, tried to jump up onto the person's lap. Seeming shocked that someone would talk to him, the man turned, lip trembling as if he was trying to speak but couldn't. Arthur was more of a cat person. "Especially with dogs. And three of them."

"I love my dogs.." the man said quietly, reaching down and patting the German Shepherd between the ears.

"What're their names?"

"Aster, Berlitz, Blackie." He answered, patting the corresponding hound's head as he said their name.

"I have a cat called Moriarty, although pets aren't allowed in the dorms." Arthur shrugged. "Don't tell anyone."

Ludwig was malfunctioning. No-one talked to him like that. Not out of the blue. He really wasn't sure how to go about answering. If he didn't say anything, the stranger wouldn't reply, and the conversation would be over. But if he did manage to choke out an answer, what if he said something wrong? If he offended this person? He didn't speak, and instead just fixed his glasses. He felt utterly embarrassed about his braces now. Dorms? Was this person in college?

"Have you heard _Guren No Yumiya_?" Arthur asked, offering one of the earphones to the man. "A friend of mine wouldn't stop going on about it. He even got a little vocal, odd for him. It's good jogging music." He mused, motioning for the stranger to take his earphone.

Ludwig stared at it. What on earth was going on? This was terrifying. And no, he didn't mean the stranger's thick eyebrows. Movements robust, he hesitantly took the earphone, and put it in. As his eardrum was blasted with some Japanese music, he pet Aster and tried to comprehend what was going on. This was odd.

"Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh- JAEGER!" Arthur sang (well, at least hummed the words he didn't know) along, making some kind of expression that could only be described as fucking epic. He didn't even notice as the man gave him an odd look. "I haven't slept in a day." He commented, laughing quietly.

That explained it. No one in their right mind would start talking to someone as frightening as Ludwig all of a sudden, and they certainly wouldn't share an incredible anime opening with him within the first two minutes of them meeting. He looked down to this man, and tilted his head a little. "Your.. Your name?" He mumbled. He only really talked to Feliciano, and most of his conversation ended up with him scolding and Feliciano laughing irritatingly.

"Arthur." He answered, putting out a hand to shake. Ludwig sensed danger. What if he didn't shake the man's hand right? What if he held on too tight, or not tight enough? If he shook it for too long? Danger. Danger. Abort. Abort.

"Ludwig."

Shakily, Ludwig forced his hand to meet Arthur's, who shook it accordingly.

"What is that, German? If you talked more, I could probably recognize your accent." He mused, raising a brow. If he talked more. He was trying. It was hard.

"German." he answered bluntly, nodding.

"You can probably guess where I'm from," Arthur shrugged, frowning a bit as _Guren No Yumiya_ ended. Now that he was in a conversation with him, Ludwig found it appropriate that Arthur took back his earphone and turned off his iPod.

"The United Kingdom?" Ludwig guessed, staring down at his dogs instead of the man on the bench beside him.

"The beautiful land of England, yes." He sighed, smiling. "Right now, I go to the college just around the corner from this park." He'd nailed it. College. Ludwig was sweating bullets. This was so embarrassing. A college student. He could've screamed. Well, he couldn't have, because he was Ludwig, but you get the picture.

"I'm in my last year of high school.." he answered meekly, voice gruff. "I had to repeat a year once."

"How old does that make you, seventeen?" Arthur scoffed. Ludwig felt himself shrinking under that tone of voice.

"Yes."

"I'm twenty." Arthur said, proud of the number. "I turn twenty-one in April."

"How's.. uh, how's college?" Ludwig tried. Conversation. Why was he even trying.

"My roommate is probably deep-throating someone as we speak, so I don't know how to describe the college experience." Arthur shrugged. How casual Arthur had said such a thing! Ludwig felt his cheeks grow heated.

"That's vulgar."

"And that's the perfect word to describe Francis." Arthur laughed. This man, this Ludwig, he was proving amusing at least. Maybe he was kind of cute, too, with how big and typically 'tough-guy' he seemed, compared to his shy and docile glasses-and-braces personality. Amusing indeed. "He's gross. And French."

"Does he eat lots of cheese?" asked Ludwig.

"The fridge is half full of cheese. The other half is filled with wine. I need to buy a new fridge."

This made Ludwig do his best to stifle a laugh, but it somehow escaped and he felt instant embarrassment. That wasn't supposed to happen. On the other hand, Arthur was trying to stop himself from blushing. That was fucking cute. Fuck.

"The good thing about being in college now, is that I can pretend my family doesn't exists. Three brothers and a sister." Arthur scoffed, pushing the thought of Ludwig's little giggle out of his mind as best he could. Which wasn't very well.

"I have a big brother," Ludwig commented, dipping his head. "But he's a little brother, because he's smaller than me." Ludwig felt actual pain from the embarrassment of his braces whistling when he talked.

"My brothers are either heavyweights or tall," Arthur whined, letting out a sigh. "Then there's little short me."

"I don't think that's a bad thing on you." He replied quietly, although he froze up when he realised how what he said could've been taken. Damn it, Ludwig. You done fucked up.

"Mm? Oh, thanks, I guess. Good things come in small packages," he recited. Okay, Ludwig, maybe you didn't done fuck up.

Then, Berlitz decided to try and jump onto Arthur. The highlight of the night. Alarmed and embarrassed, Ludwig tried to pull him back by the leash, but Berlitz was firm in place as he tried to lick Arthur's face. Arthur just froze up, lightly trying to shove the unfamiliar hound away from him.

"I'm sorry," Ludwig mumbled quickly, trying once more to tug Bertlitz back. "Down, Berlitz!" There was a pause, and the Doberman jumped back down onto the ground.

"He gets excited sometimes, and I-"

"It's fine," interjected Arthur, letting out a little sigh and dusting himself off. "Moriarty is a clingy bugger who I have to surgically remove from myself when I get up in the morning." He shrugged. "Pets, right?"

After sniffing at his shoes for a moment, Aster decided to leap up onto Arthur, to which Berlitz followed suit. Blackie just kind of watched the other two from the ground. Ludwig let out an indignant noise – he would never admit that it was a squeak – and tried to tug his dogs back. Arthur tensed again, cringing as the hounds pawed at his legs.

Ludwig kept apologizing and trying to remove his dogs from Arthur, but Aster moved sharply over to the other side of the bench, tugging Ludwig closer to the Briton. And awkwardly, ever so painfully awkwardly, Arthur was knocked over onto his back, and Ludwig on top of him, hand still clutching tightly onto the leash.

"I-.. I-.." Ludwig tried, blue eyes wide and alarmed. All he could do was stare helplessly down at Arthur, who seemed just as shocked. Arthur was unable to talk as well, and the two of them just stayed like that for a moment. Snapping out of it, Arthur shuffled lamely backward, and Ludwig forced himself to sit back properly again. He called Aster over and bopped him on the nose, still trying to recover.

"Goodness," Arthur mumbled quietly, looking away. It was dark, so Ludwig wouldn't be able to see the blush on his cheeks.

"I'm sorry."

"Uh, don't be, I guess," he shrugged, taking his iPod out of his pocket for something to fiddle with. That was awkward. And he didn't just develop a crush. Nope. Not on a high school student. No.

"They're not usually this mischievous." He looked to Aster with stern eyes, and the Golden Retriever let out a little whine.

"Maybe I should introduce them to Moriarty sometime." Arthur mused, raising a brow. "They could be troublemakers together."

"I don't think Blackie likes cats." Ludwig replied quietly. He was doing it. Conversation. There would be a slow applause, if there was anyone reading about this whole meeting. Which wasn't happening. That'd be weird.

"Everyone loves Moriarty." Arthur answered simply. "Well, I should go and tell Francis to get the hell to sleep." He said quickly, so that he wouldn't say something stupid before their meeting was over. "Nice to meet you, Ludwig."

"Oh, er, nice to meet you too." He said, nodding and praying that his dogs would be obedient.

"Wait a moment," Arthur murmured, reaching into his pocket for something. He pulled out a phone, and handed it over to Ludwig. "Put your number in."

Dumbfounded, Ludwig took the phone in his hands, and shakily tried to type his number into contacts. It was hard, though, as he had chubby fingers, and was really bad at pressing the right spot on the touch screen because of that. After struggling for at least five minutes, he finally managed to type it in right, and handed it back over to Arthur. He had just given his number to someone. Oh no. Cheeks red with heavy embarrassment, Ludwig just nodded, as he could not speak.

"Now, give me your phone." Arthur instructed, holding out his hand. Ludwig hesitantly pulled out an old flip-phone and handed it over. He prayed Arthur wasn't one of those people who judged you because of the kind of phone you had. His brother had given this one after finally getting an iPhone. They weren't exactly rich in the Beilschmidt house, and hand-me-downs were common.

"Oh, it's a flip-phone," mused Arthur, taking it in his hands and going into contacts. Ludwig felt awkward once again. "How nostalgic. You should put some charms on it or something. That'd be cute." He laughed quietly as he finished up with his number. Ludwig made a mental note to search eBay for some cute dog charms or something. Or maybe one of a mug of beer. That'd be cute, he guessed. Maybe he could get one of wurst.

"I'd better be off," Arthur said with a yawn, getting to his feet. In a kind of daring movement, he leant down, and pat Aster's head. "Thanks for the company, Ludwig." With a faint smile and wave, he started to walk off, leaving Ludwig blushing and confused.

* * *

**i fucking love gereng bye the end**


End file.
